8 Fla. L. Weekly Supp. 795a
Insurance — Attorney’s fees — Contingency risk multiplier of 2.0 is appropriate where likelihood of plaintiff’s success at outset of case was unlikely, insurer filed eight affirmative defenses, and plaintiff’s counsel recovered the maximum amount possible for his client
EUGENE PANZA, Plaintiff, vs. PROGRESSIVE EXPRESS INSURANCE COMPANY, Defendant. County Court, 13th Judicial Circuit in and for Hillsborough County, Civil Division. Case No. 2000-9177 CC, Division I. September 21, 2001. Charlotte Anderson, Judge. Counsel: Timothy A. Patrick, Tampa, for Plaintiff. Kendrick Blackwell, for Defendant.
ORDER ON PLAINTIFF’S MOTION TO TAXATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS
THIS CAUSE having come before the Court on August 29, 2001, on Plaintiff’s Motion to Tax Attorney’s Fees and Costs. Present before the court was Plaintiff’s counsel, Timothy A. Patrick, with his expert witness Thomas Parnell, Esquire, and Defense counsel, Kendrick Blackwell, with his expert witness, Mike Wallace, Esquire. The court after hearing from all witnesses and after review of the file and exhibits introduced hereby makes the following findings.
The court specifically finds that the failure to settle this case at the outset was not the fault of the Plaintiff. The court further finds that the Defendant had no further information after taking the deposition of the Plaintiff, than it had on March 10, 2000, prior to the filing of the lawsuit.
It is ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the court hereby finds that a reasonable hourly rate in this matter would be $200.00 per hour. The court additionally finds that 17.7 hours were reasonably expended by Plaintiff’s counsel in this matter. Computing 17.7 hours times $200.00 per hour results in a load star of $3,540.00, for which sums let execution issue; It is further,
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the court hereby finds that a contingency risk multiplier of 2.0 is appropriate in this matter based upon the factors enunciated in Quanstrom and Rowe. The court finds that the likelihood of success for the Plaintiff at the outset of this case was unlikely. The court further finds that the Defendant filed no less than eight (8) affirmative defenses and that Plaintiff’s counsel recovered the maximum amount possible for his client. Computing $3,540.00 times 2.0 results in a load star of $7,080.00, for which sums let execution issue; It is further,
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the Defendant shall pay statutory interest on the $7,080.00 amount from the date of entitlement, October 23, 2000, forward, for which sums let execution issue.
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the court finds that 6 hours were reasonably spent by Plaintiff’s expert witness at a rate of $200.00 per hour, thus totaling $1,200.00, for which sums let execution issue; It is further,
ORDERED and ADJUDGED that the Defendant shall pay the sum total of $352.50 in costs to counsel for the Plaintiff, for which sums let execution issue.
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